In conclusion, the present study’s results suggest that there may be small genetically-mediated child effects on physical maltreatment and neglect, and none on sexual maltreatment. The effects of “shared environment” on maltreatment, which may include passive gene-environment correlation, were moderate. Most of the variance of maltreatment was due to nonshared environmental influences, suggesting that maltreatment occurs largely as a function of idiosyncratic individual circumstances. The covariances among different forms of maltreatment does not appear to be due to common genetic influences being associated with behaviors that evoke various forms of maltreatment, but rather to correlated nonshared environmental influences, or common measurement error.
